Leaf nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometry of shrubland plants in the rocky desertification area of Southwestern Hunan, China.

• Published in: Ying yong sheng tai xue bao Vol. 28; no. 2; p. 415
• Main Authors: Jing, Yi Ran, Deng, Xiang Wen, Wei, Hui, Li, Yan Qiong, Deng, Dong Hua, Liu, Hao Jian, Xiang, Wen Hua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: China 01.02.2017
• Subjects: leaf N and P stoichiometry; rocky desertification; plant functional group
• ISSN: 1001-9332
• DOI: 10.13287/j.1001-9332.201702.020

In this paper, we took the leaves of shrubland plants in rocky desertification area in Southwestern Hunan as the research object to analyze the nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry characteristics for different functional groups and different grades of rocky desertification, i.e., light rocky desertification (LRD), moderate rocky desertification (MRD) and intense rocky desertification (IRD). The results showed that the average contents of N and P were 12.89 and 1.19 g·kg , respectively, and N/P was 11.24 in common shrubland plants in the study area, which indicated that the growth of most plants were mainly limited by N. The content of N was declined in order of deciduous shrubs > evergreen shrubs > annual herbs > perennial herbs. The content of P and N/P were higher in deciduous shrubs than in perennial herbs. Significant differences were found among the main families of plants in terms of the contents of N, P and N/P in the study sites. The plants of Gramineae had the lowest contents of N and P, an